Ikebana: Part Mari  Lily of the Valley
by Ameyoke
Summary: Two out of three serials! After the Shaman Fight ended and Hao was set as Shaman King, what happened to the Hanagumi? Ren meets Mari once again, and learns about her horrid past. He wants to heal it before it's too late. And how will Mari react to China?
1. Chapter 1: Summer, June, Year 1

**Chapter 1: Summer, June, Year 1**

"I'm here." Tao Ren with his satchel over his shoulder entered the Ryokan that Anna and Yoh ran.

"…!" A girl with long, blonde hair in pigtails wearing a kimono gasped quietly as she looked at who had arrived. With quiet eyes, Marion Phauna looked up at Tao Ren who wore black pants, a rolled-up-sleeved white dress shirt and his hair longer than it was when he was 14. He wore it in a ponytail, and had his spikes in his hair up in a barrette.

It seemed the moment was in slow motion. Gracefully, Mari dashed over to him, placed her hand on his shoulder, and collided her lips with his. In shock, Ren's eyes opened wide.

"What are you-" He looked at her. Silently, she looked at him like she had done nothing wrong.

"Oh my, you can't do that, Mari." Anna Kyouyama entered, and so did Yoh. Mari looked back at the inn master, still gripping onto Ren. "Come here." Mari obeyed her command right away and trotted back behind Anna.

"Oh no… It really happened…" Yoh laughed.

"What do you mean by that?" Ren yelled angrily.

"When we told her that you were coming, she was all excited."

"Oh yeah, she looked like a girl in love." Anna said to him, and then looked to Mari. "Mari, he didn't do anything to you, did he?"

"No."

"Good."

"I WAS THE ONE THAT WAS VIOLATED!" Ren jabbed back, his hair spiking up in fury.

"Shut up." Anna sighed. "It's just a kiss. Deal." Ren blushed furiously. "Isn't it great that a girl likes you?"

"We've only met once or twice before!"

"Love at first sight."

Ren looked at Mari as she peeked from behind Anna. The girl smiled slightly and blushed. Ren felt his heart beat a little. A girl LIKED HIM?

"W-Whatever. As long as that's the end."

But it wasn't.

"Ren." Mari came up to him in the hallway and kissed him again.

"Ren." She ran to him after he finished his bath and kissed him again.

"Ren." She crawled onto his bed where he read his book before sleeping and kissed him on the lips. He looked down and saw her nightgown seeping down from her chest.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" He slammed his fist on the table where Anna and Yoh were drinking tea.

"God, you're loud." Anna put her tea on the table and sighed.

"She's assaulting me!" Ren's spikes on his head went sharp.

"Then why don't you play along?" Yoh suggested. "Why don't you try being her boyfriend for a little while? Find out a little more about her. Find out why she's doing this."

"Kh…" Ren looked away. He decided that Yoh's suggestion wasn't a bad one. If he could find the root, he could fix it.


	2. Chapter 2: Summer, June, Year 1

**Chapter 2: Summer, June, Year 1**

"Hey, Mari." Ren said to her as she sat on a cushion. She looked up to him with those innocent, naïve eyes. "Let's go out for a bit."

"Anna-sama!" Kanna Bismarch, who still smelled of smoke, demanded an answer from her employer. "Why hasn't Ren left yet?"

"Why should he?" Anna said nonchalantly as she ate some rice at lunchtime.

"Why? He hasn't paid for his board! A-And, Mari, she's been acting weird since he got here…"

"Ah, so that's your true motive. Watching after your little sister."

"…She may not be related to me by blood, but she's the closest thing to family I have. Both her and Macchi." Kanna remembered Macchi, the middle sister who had left the city and gone to Hokkaido with Horo Horo, her new boyfriend.

"Lonely? Scared that Mari might go away?"

"…"

"Kanna, all birds leave the nest. Whether you like it or not, your 'sisters' are moving on. What YOU do in the future is you path to take."

"…My path… Huh…" Kanna started to light her cig with her black lighter with a blue lotus on it.

"NO SMOKING IN THE INN." Anna snatched away the cigarette and not the lighter, because she knew how much it meant to her.

_ "Aw, damn, my lighter broke." Kanna tossed her old cheap lighter into the trash can as they did a mission from Hao around 5 years ago._

_ "Aw, don't throw it away!" Macchi pulled it out and popped the top open. "See, if you mix a little lighter fluid with spiritual energy, the flame will last forever." Macchi put a needle to her finger, and a drop of her own blood dripped into the lighter fluid. "There."_

_ "No, really, it's all scratched up and ugly. I'll buy a new one…"_

_ "Then Mari will paint it." And she did. She painted the lighter black with a hard, solid paint, and then with great detail she painted a beautiful lotus onto it. She then sloshed a gauze over it so that it would stay in it's state._

_ "Kanna… Do you know what "lotus" means in the language of flowers?" Mari asked as she finished the gauze._

_ "…? No, what?" Kanna said, completely confused. Mari giggled._

_ "Someday, you'll understand."_

Kanna held the lighter close to her heart. This lighter was the object that proved the bond of the Hanagumi. But she knew. She knew she couldn't stand still forever.

* * *

In the shopping district, Mari and Ren sat at an Italian restaurant, eating silently. Ren knew that he would have start the conversation. A silent Mari wouldn't get anything started at all.

"So…" He twisted at his pasta, "What do you like to do?"

"Reading. Working. Drawing." Mari told him quietly.

"Hmm… What do you like to draw?"

"Flowers, mostly. But animals and scenery is nice, too." She shuffled through her small purse.

"No people?"

"Humans are worthless to me." Mari passed him a picture on a piece of paper. It was a vase of three kinds of flowers, sketched and then colored with watercolor.

"This is really good." He looked at it in amazement.

"It's trash." She looked down. "No matter how many times I try and draw it, it never looks right. The shape, the color…"

"What are these flowers?"

"The Hanagumi." She replied. Ren tried seeing if he could see faces in the flowers, but with no prevail. Mari, noticing his efforts, pointed at the first flower.

"The Tiger Lily is Macchi." The first flower came to life before his eyes. The blazing orange and red that was her hair, but also her spirit. Yet, through the energy came the beauty that lay within.

"The Lotus is Kanna." A flower that matched the blue-haired German. A large, single flower that was graceful and beautiful, but still strong with a slight shade of color.

"And the Lily-of-the-Valley…" Mari pointed to herself. "Is me." The womanly, mature color, but the innocent, cute bells… They matched the beauty that lived in her heart.

"So, that's the Hanagumi, huh…?" Ren leaned back in his chair. Then, he picked up the slip of paper. "Will you give this to me? It's trash, right?"

"You want it?" She looked confused. Ren put it in his pocket.

"It's nice." Mari looked down, still trying to figure out why he would want it.

Walking back to the inn from the restaurant, Mari held her arms crossed. Ren noticed the bones popping out of her arms. She hadn't been eating right. Was Anna feeding her right?

"Ah!" Mari stopped in her tracks and looked up. Ren peeked over at her.

"What's up?"

"Miao." Mari made a strange sound. With a dumbfounded face, Ren tried to figure out what she had realized.

"Miao?"

"Kitty." Mari leaned over and cooed to a little creature who poked out from behind the green trash can on the curb of the walkway.

"Meow." It was a small, stained brown kitten, covered in dirt and fleas. Mari reached her hand for the little one.

"A stray cat." Ren told her. "They sometimes show up around this area."

"Kitty." Mari picked up the cat and held it close.

"Mari, that cat's dirty!"

"But it's cute…" Mari made a slightly pouty face. "And it's hungry…" Ren, not knowing Mari could be this cute, looked at her with his mouth open. But he knew what she was aiming for.

"No. Not happening. Anna would never allow it."

"Please~?" She held the cat in front of her and pretended to be it's voice.

"No."

"Ren~" She made another cute face, as if she were about to cry. Finally, his face red as a tomato and as hot as a pot of tea, Ren gave up.

"Fine… I'll help you convince Anna." Ren scratched his head.

"Yay…" Mari smiled softly and held the cat close. THUMP. Ren fell on the ground. "Ren?"

* * *

"So… You fainted from a cute attack, huh?" Kanna laughed tom boyishly sitting manly-like on the floor next to Ren with a wet towel on his forward.

"…Shut up." He took the towel off and got up. Apparently, while he was knocked out, Kanna had helped Mari convince Anna to keep the cat.

"Why not?" Anna had said. "The cat can be our mascot." The cat meowed in approval.

"She's washing the cat now in the bathroom. Why don't you go help out?" Kanna scratched her head and pulled herself up.

"Mari, how's the washing go-" Stopped in his tracks, there was the pigtailed Italian with her hair in one ponytail and in a black bikini. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" He exclaimed, his hair spikes stabbing up.

"…" Mari blushed and kept washing the cat. Ren came over and put some shampoo on his hands.

"I came to help wash him." He scrubbed the cat behind it's ears. It seemed to like it.

"…The kitty's a girl." Mari reported.

"Ah…"

"Anastasia."

"Huh?" Mari kept looking down at the cat as Ren looked at her.

"The cat's name…" She told him. "Is Anastasia."

"That's a nice name." As Ren sprayed the shower head on the kitten, Anastasia, he noticed that the cat wasn't brown, after all. This kitten was a Siamease cat. There were brown tips on the ears, face, tail and feet.

The two started to dry the kitten, when they saw it start to dance in the warm air. The cat seemed really happy be clean and warm, perhaps for the first time in her life.

"Here you go, Anastasia." Mari leaned over and placed a small bowl of food. The cat ate out of it like she hadn't eaten in weeks. She probably hadn't. "Good girl…"

* * *

From then on, wherever Mari went, Anastasia followed. Whenever Mari ate, Anastasia ate out of her bowl. When Mari took a bath, Anastasia jumped in too. And when Mari slept, Anastasia slept right beside her in the bed.

"Jealous?" Ren asked Kanna who leaned against the wall, spying in on what Mari and Anastasia were doing. The kitten pawed at the feather on a stick Mari teased her with.

"…What about you?" Kanna said quietly and coldly and walked away. Ren didn't know what an impact that one conversation would have on their lives.


	3. Chapter 3: Summer, August, Year 1

**Chapter 3: Summer, August, Year 1**

"I'm leaving." Kanna Bismarch announced to the group of people living in the inn. The only people that remained were Kanna, Anna, Yoh, Mari and Ren. And of course, one little cat.

"What are you talking about…?" Mari said in shock.

"I found a job in Australia at a Japanese company." Kanna told her. "I'm going to be working as a graphic designer. I'm designing the images for advertisements, products, everything."

"Ohhh, congratulations." Yoh smiled. "You do like painting and drawing, after all."

"Yeah. It's time to start my life up again."

"No…! Kanna, stay here with me…!" Mari hugged Kanna. "Please…! Please, stay…! I need you…!"

"Mari…"

"Please…!" Mari sobbed.

"You've got Ren, right? And Anastasia." Kanna patted her head. "Mari, you've got to let go of me. You've got to walk on your own. Leaning on the Hanagumi is fine once in a while, but you have to walk your own path." Mari fell from Kanna and sobbed on the floor, so confused, so sad. Anastasia came and licked her tears.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want us to come to the airport?" Yoh asked. Kanna shook her head.

"No. It'll only make it harder." Kanna, wearing a jean jacket over a white shirt and jean hat with black pants looked very stylish for her Australian debut. She was going to be traveling 6535 miles, approximately to get to her destination

"You traitor. I only have one maid now." Anna looked at her dully. Kanna laughed.

"Not for long." Anna clicked her teeth. But then, Anna hugged Kanna tightly.

"Come back anytime." She whispered. Although much younger than her, Anna was like the first mother Kanna had ever had.

"Yeah…" She smiled with a hint of sadness. "Thanks." She looked towards the door with her rucksack over her shoulder. Mari wasn't coming out. But then, an object came flying down from the top floor. Kanna caught it in her hand. It was a silver lotus brooch. Mari looked down at her with a sad face. Kanna smiled and waved, got into the taxi, and then she was gone. In the taxi, Kanna pinned the brooch into her jacket

* * *

_Author's note: Sorry for the short chapter! But it needed to be short. This is just a part of August. How do you like the story so far?_


	4. Chapter 4: Autumn, September, Year 1

**Chapter 4: Autumn, September, Year 1**

Finally able to get Mari out of the house, Ren walked with her along the bridge over the strong-moving river. Mari sat down on the ledge with him. Finally, he started to talk.

"Mari…" He spoke. "Why did you join Hao?"

"…" She went silent for a moment (although she was silent from the beginning), "…When Mari was a child, Mari was very happy. Mari had the best education, a high-class house, and Mari's mother had just given birth to Mari's little brother, Ezio."

When Mari was small, her family was perfect. A beautiful house, money, status, arts, language, clothes, toys, food, music… Every day, Marion's mother, Stella Phauna, played a song for the young Mari to sing to on the piano.

_**All'alba io vedrò le sette terre che **_

_**il destino vuole farmi trovare davvero. **_

_**O dolce melodia sprigioni vita e **_

_**mi fai cantare forte un messaggio d'amore. **_

_**Per sempre tu sarai in fondo all'anima **_

_**così che neanche il tempo ci può separare. **_

_**O dolce melodia sprigioni vita e **_

_**mi fai cantare forte un messaggio d'amore. **_

_**Dolce melodia **_

_**Dolce melodia**_

_ "Very good, Mari." Stella, a tall, beautiful woman with long, light copper, wavy hair smiled at her daughter. In her hair at the back was a long, lacey blue ribbon. Stella in her full dress picked up her child, Marion, who wore a cute black lacey dress and black ribbons tied her hair up in high pigtails. "You're a great singer."_

_ "Ehehe…" Mari laughed as she never did in the present. Mari was a very happy child. But then, her powers began to grow as a Shaman._

_ "Stella! We have to do something about Mari!" Mari's father, Pierre exclaimed. Stella looked down._

_ "Pierre, we must remain calm. Mari is just a little girl. If we raise her right, nothing will go wrong."_

_ "But-!"_

"And then Mari remembers. We were running away, mother held my hand with Ezio in her other arm. Running, running…"

_"Stop right there, you witch!" The villagers ran with weapons in their hands. As they dashed, Stella fell to the ground with a bang._

_ "Mari…!" Stella raised her hand to her child. "Run…! You must live…!" But Mari hesitated and looked at her mother. She started to cry._

_ "Gotcha!" One of the villagers grabbed her by the arm._

_ "Kill the woman and kid! We don't know their powers, either." The village leader gave the sign._

"Mari was forced to watch. There was so much blood. They stabbed and shot through mother and Ezio and father so many times. Mother's screams went away when her eyes went blank. Mari closed her eyes. And then, when Mari opened her eyes…" Mari looked at Ren as they sat on the ledge near the river. "Everyone was dead. Mari killed them with her power. Mari got away from there. Mari let Chuck possess my doll. Mari wanted power. And then, as Mari lived in fear alone, only 4 years old, Hao-sama found Mari." Mari lifted herself up from the ledge and turned around on it, her back facing the river.

"Mari?"

"Ren… What would you do if Mari jumped off right now?" Mari's pigtails blew in the wind. Her eyes were blank, as if it weren't her anymore.

"Don't be stupid. Get back-" But when he looked up, the girl was already falling back into the water. Like a dancer in the air, she gracefully fell.

"YOU RETARD-!" Ren urgently jumped into the water with her. From within, Ren pulled her up and made her choke up the water she had swallowed.

"Why…? Why did you save Mari…?" Mari choked. "AAAAAAAHHHH!" She screamed violently, and her eyes closed.

"Mari? Mari!"

* * *

"Again, huh…?" Yoh sat next to the injured Mari and the worried Ren.

"Again?" Ren whispered.

"Yeah… When she's questioned about her past, another her takes over and tries to kill herself. But… that's not what the real Mari wants." Yoh remembered the first time Anna asked Mari about her past. Mari had grabbed a razor blade and was about to kill herself when Anna slapped her with the legendary left hand. Anna had saved Mari. Ren had almost failed.

"…But if she knows her past, she-"

"There are holes in her story." Anna butted in. "She's tricking her mind to forget it."

"So the her who wants to kill herself is the one who she hid away…" Ren reviewed the circumstances.

"So if she remembers…"

"Yes. She'll kill herself." Ren and Yoh, shocked with fear felt the pieces connect. If she remembered, she would die. If she forgot, she would be stuck in time.

"Ren, I need to talk to you. Alone." Anna lead the Chinese boy to the veranda and leaned against the wall.

"Do you know why Mari approached you that day?" She asked. That day. The day his first kiss was stolen- no- shared with Marion Phauna.

"…No…"

"When her family was killed, she was powerless. She couldn't do anything to save them. If she had someone who had a kind, hurt heart like hers with power…" She looked at Ren. "But then, she met you Ren." He remembered the time they met. She was attacking them with the Hanagumi during the Shaman Fight. She remembered her strength, but then her weakness when he powered up. Her frightened, frustrated face… To this day, it still shone clear in his mind. They HAD fought directly, hadn't they?

"She only loved me… For my power…?" Ren covered his face and laughed. "OK… Now it makes sense… I'm such an idiot." Ren was an idiot. He had fallen in love with the girl who had forgotten how to love.


End file.
